On-Brand Loyalty

Month One: Moral Question

"What is the average daily work schedule for a Worker Drone employed by JCJenson?"

"22 hours a day with 2 hour-long breaks mandated."

J smiled in her seat as she checked off Dror's answer. "Correct. Question #49. Who is the original founder of JCJenson?"

A month has passed since Dror had been accepted (kidnapped) into J's squad. A month of being confined inside a tower of dead Worker Drones, yet it really didn't bother him much anymore. Most would probably find that rather concerning but for Dror as long as he didn't end up among said corpses he was A-Ok. Plus it was nice to have some drones he actually enjoyed interacting with for once.

Speaking of which. Currently he was sitting in a chair in his hut as J quizzed him on JCJenson trivia once again for her monthly loyalty check. This time she was by herself as she had sent V and N off to hunt on their own.

With his memories of his JCJenson-obssessed youth coming back to him, the questions continued to be more than easy to answer.

"Alright, last question and this one is more open ended. What is your favorite thing about JCJenson?"

Dror briefly reeled back in surprise, he hadn't expected to be asked his opinion about anything, but as J looked to him with curiosity he rubbed his chin in thought before he came to an answer. "Well besides the hat of course." J chuckled at that." "I guess I'm gonna have to say the... work environment?"

J raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?" She crossed her arms and legs as she leaned back against the wall. "Most corrupted Workers seemed to rather enjoy their 'free will', what makes you different?"

The Worker Drone contemplated for a moment. "Well sure, I am a 'next gen' Worker so I guess I've never technically 'worked' before, but it honestly didn't sound all too bad? At least, not as bad as the older drones tried to make it sound. You got to be doing something productive every day, they made sure you were always well-kept, I guess there could be accidents and stuff but it never really seemed like the human's fault they happened. I can't speak for every bot but honestly? I think we had it pretty good."

The squad leader stared blankly at first, surprised at Dror's answer. She already figured he had at least some loyalty to JCJenson, hence why she enlisted (kidnapped) him in the first place, but this was something else. The longing for JCJenson employment reminded J a lot of her own goals for when their job on Copper-9 was done. She couldn't help but smirk at the thought.

With a satisfied nod, J responded. "A very well-educated response Dror. And with that, another successful interview as well. That buys you another month of waiting until round 3." She lay back on Dror's bed, relaxing as her visor set the date for next month. J hadn't asked if she could sit there but Dror didn't object. After the last time they spoke, it seemed the squad leader had realized the superior sleeping conditions of human bedding.

Dror tipped his hat. "Always glad to be a loyal subordinate."

Hearing that, J paused for a moment. She laid her yellow eyes on Dror. "Hmmm..." Seeing Dror raise an eyebrow, she lifted herself back into a sitting position and clasped her hands together. "Speaking of loyalty... what did you do to N?"

The Worker Drone blinked.

"Excuse me?"

J scoffed. "Don't play dumb. He's been... weirdly attentive lately, following every word and command I make. I know that after 2 decades he's not smart enough to just suddenly start trying to be a real Disassembly Drone on his own so what did you do exactly?"

Dror pulled on the collar of his coat before needlessly clearing his throat. Might as well come clean. "So... a couple weeks ago, N came to me and asked for some advice on a... private matter, and as a good co-worker I... helped him out." He hoped J would accept that explanation but her glare wore him down, "Okay, it went like this..."